Jeff Corwin: Animal Show Host

Talk about survival of the fittest. While tracking the world's wildest creatures for Animal Planet's popular travelogue The Jeff Corwin Experience, the show's star has corralled cobras in India, gotten down with dingoes in Australia, outrun elephants in Borneo—and still managed to jog 40 miles a week on his journeys. Not, however, without incident. "In Australia he got lost, so a 5-mile run turned into 20," says the show's executive producer Kevin Meagher. "In India his jog turned into an event with people following him." Corwin also hits the gym when he can. Otherwise, "I'll find a bar or a beam to hang from," says the 5'11" frequent flier, who makes sure that cooks in far-flung locales feed him lots of fruit and lean meat and no oil or fried food. Corwin, 34, who has a master's degree in natural resources conservation and B.S.'s in biology and anthropology, is happiest in his own habitat, a tiny island off Massachusetts where he lives with wife Natasha, 28, a Ph.D. candidate in comparative literature, and their three cats and pet fox. He's no savvier than his menagerie about grooming. "I had this little jar of Swiss eye lotion," recalls Natasha. "You're supposed to use only a little, but he slathered it all over his face. It was glittery, so he was shining for a week."